With the help of NASA's Chandra spacecraft, an international team of astronomers conducted X-ray
Galaxy Cigar (Messier 82 or M82)opened in 1774 . The object in which the burst of star formation is observed is located at a distance of about 11.73 million light years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. Its size is about 40-800 light years. M82 is one of the starburst galaxies closest to Earth.
Recently, a group of astronomers led by KazushiIwasawa from the University of Barcelona, Spain, decided to take a closer look at the diffuse emission of the Cigar Galaxy. They used Chandra to perform spectral analysis of radiation in the 4-8 keV range with spatial resolution.
Observations have shown that diffuse radiationThe Cigar galaxy with an energy of 4–8 keV consists of three spectral components of different origins. The morphology of the object's diffuse X-ray emission resembles the morphology of far-infrared and radio emission.
Chandra X-ray images of the central part of M82, combined from 13 observations. Credit: Iwasawa et al., 2023.
In addition, scientists discovered hot gasin a limited region near the galactic disk. Astronomers have suggested that it flows from the eastern part of the star formation ring and fills the collimated structures of a superbubble escaping from the galactic disk, marked by mid-infrared and radio voids.
Previous observations of the Cigar Galaxyshowed that it exhibits large-scale galactic wind at various wavelengths, for example, in the hard X-ray range above several kiloelectronvolts. This superwind appears to be concentrated in two regions, or clumps, of the galaxy with high surface brightness. In addition, it is fueled by the energy released by supernovae. In previous studies of this galaxy, astronomers have detected residual diffuse radiation surrounding the star formation disk.
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On the cover:Magnetic fields in M82, or the Cigar Galaxy, are shown as lines in a composite image of the galaxy in visible and infrared wavelengths taken by the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes.
Photo: NASA